Potassium titanate fibers are artificial mineral fibers having superior heat as well as chemical resistance characteristics. While potassium titanate fibers have been known in the past to be useful as an insulator, the present inventors considered that if these were metal coated, their use could be extended to various fields such as the manufacture of fiber reinforced composite metal materials, the addition of metal to dielectric materials and metal coating of dielectric materials.
However, prior to the present invention a process for metal coating potassium titanate fiber was not to the inventors knowledge available. Prior art electroless coating methods have not been employed to coat titanate fibers with a metal, since the various conditions or parameters such as catalyst, atmosphere, etc. have proved to be quite difficult to determine. Further, even if metal coating of potassium titanate fibers were theoretically possible, such a process, heretofore, has not been considered industrially feasible because of uneconomical manufacturing costs associated therewith.
The present invention provides a method for metal coating potassium titanate fibers which method is stable and sufficiently economical for industrial production. The present invention also relates to metal coated potassium titanate fibers.